Feds come knocking for home inspections

A sanitation district in Pennsylvania has notified homeowners that its representatives will be making personal visits to every structure served by its network of drainpipes because that’s what the federal Environmental Protection Agency is demanding.

The letter informs homeowners the inspections will probably take only about 15 minutes, but that all properties “will be considered a source of clear water discharges until an inspection can be conducted.”

The effort, according to officials at the Coplay Whitehall Sewer Authority, is to prevent water from sources such as sump pumps or downspouts from being channeled into a water treatment process.

But homeowners are concerned about the mandatory government inspections of their properties.

“I do consider this the equivalent of illegal search and invasion of my home without just cause and [it] establishes a situation where I am guilty and must prove innocence,” one homeowner, who asked that his identity be withheld, told WND.

“This inspection is to determine if I am ‘discharging’ ‘clean water’ into the sewer system. At no point in the letter does it say exactly what will be looked at, (I guess leaky faucets will be a crime) what else may be being evaluated while my property is being inspected, what is on the ‘check list’ or report that is being done, and really exactly who is doing the inspection,” he said.

Officials with the sanitation district confirmed that they dispatched the letter and said the inspections are being demanded by the EPA. However, officials at the regional EPA office and those at its Washington headquarters declined to respond to WND questions about the process or its goals.